Reclamation (EOD AAR)

**midterm360** · September 06, 2009, 02:59 PM

Chapter 6: A new threat...

I am Mikhail Sorvinnus in service of our mighty empire! In the last few years our now waining Reich Gelder has reclaimed most of the old empire and Germanicae stands as a major power in the world. Though the threats to our sacred and sovereign rule over the lands does not go unchallenged. The kingdom of Francia appears as though it seeks to challenge us and war stirs south of our borders. Men clothed in dark armor and robes flying red banners, preaching of the land of magog. At first I thought nothing of them...

Our spies however has sent us a letter with disturbing information and peturbing consequences should our armies fail in their duty great tragedies will take place on an unprecedented scale that will shake us to our very foundations! The firstborn in every family will be killed! This would destroy the very structure of our system of family heirs, family heads, business owners, army trainers and the like. It would leave us without men groomed for the proper purpose.

Not only that, they launched two offensives in the same year on us! one was unexpected, and were it not for the superb generalship of one of our commanders the siege of Arad would have failed and it's pagan followers may been granted a worse fate. The forces of the red banner men were lead by a man named Sailos.

Wernick will speak nothing more of the battle other than how frightful the general and his retinue were, he remarked that they only prevailed due to the valor of his own retinue and through weight of numbers. He seems stuck on the elite shock cavalry. They call themselves the azeal, and they are a frightful sight to behold, of them I can say no more till I have seen them myself, and they hold no terror for me!

Wernick beat them back, but the ill equiped forces at the crossing of the river Ved'ma were also attacked. All that saved them was that they spotted the attack early and received a reinforcement of 80 more squires and 160 other bowmen. An enemy general was not present and so the command kept his head and applied tactics, documenting the battle thoroughly.

The men of the red banner and land of magog conceived to attack us. This we know due to the information gathered from a might watchtower we'd built on the our side of the river. The in the tower had difficulty seeing them for some reason. They describe it as though looking in that very direction set them to fear and for it they would not have noticed the dust clouds and the faint sight of their banners. It was as if an evil will set itself against our efforts to gather intelligence, and only though grasping the holy cross and praying to god were their fears alleviated. Upn hearing this I inspected our forces and discorvered we only had enough men to form 1 melee brigade! I sent for reinforcements from Ved'ma, in answer we received a host of men that doubled our numbers!

I ordered our men to dig in on our side of the river and wait, two troops of feudal squires and 3 units of hunters conscripted as archers. The best a commander could hope for in these parts of the empire. It would be up to us to defend this part of the empire and hold the river crossing! It would not be long before we were in battle. Alas! We were attacked.

Upon seeing the enemy army we were somewhat relieved, they had only massed heavy infantry. While their numbers of melee combatants was far greater our men had misile superiority, if you could call it that. But what is more, they had a staunch determination, and all had heard and read of Carolus' work defending a bridge from a mighty pagan host before. We knew we had an advantage. But there was still this near demonic presence of a terrible will against us. I ordered a local congregation to come and sing their songs and pray, it seemed to ward off the feeling of being suffocated by a hot flame, and bolstered our spirits.

The enemy marched across the bridge chanting something about Magog and some man they considered a deity named Carreau. Their black armor shone in the midday sun. But our men were ready. They roared in defiance of these fools and they swore to send the blasphemous fools back to whence they came. They shouted their warcries and brandished their weapons. I knew I could count on them to hold their ground in the face of these demon worshiping foes.

When our lines closed I ordered a unit of our infantry to stay back, they would need to save their strength for the latter half of the battle. Begrudinly they agreed. I then ordered a whole two thirds of our archer brigade to head to the eastern side of the river and open fire on them, this side of them carried war axes and hence were unguarded by a shield. Volley after volley was fired.

With a gritty satisfaction we listened as anguished howls erupted from the enemies ranks. the barrage continued and did not stop, I almost felt bad for the enemies on that side of the army as there was nothing to be done about our archers and all they could do was accept the bombardment.

It seemed for a moment that the battle may go ill. It was at this time I chose to commit my second troop of squires who were, unlike the others in both armies, fresh and ready for combat instead of being exhausted. Soon the enemy, faced with this new enemy lost spirit and fled, my and my retinue chased down the foolish routers and victory was ours!

For the moment we are safe, but I fear more attacks, and more determined ones will come, leaving us without a bastion for the city of Ved'ma. Unless we receive more men, or the quality of our troops improve, we will surely fail, and the eastern sect of them empire will be put at serious risk.

-Garrison commander Ariogaissus

Reports like this I fear will become more and more frequent throughout the empire. We must guard against these men of the far east and south or all will be lost.

**midterm360** · September 06, 2009, 03:01 PM

TADA!!!!

**Halie Satanus** · September 06, 2009, 04:12 PM

Cool..

**Fredericus Iulius** · September 07, 2009, 07:07 AM

It's getting creepy!

Go Germania

**Halie Satanus** · September 07, 2009, 10:11 AM

My dosh is on the Satanae..

**midterm360** · September 08, 2009, 10:16 PM

dosh?

and I haven't had the chance to play lately, out having a life and pondering the next move. Unless I win like 2-3 heroic victories and take Sarmisegetuza and Beograd. Mikhail Sorvinnus may find himself hiding from Lucifer oh boy, looks like the reich needs to accept raiders as offical soldiers and get some axemen to the front! not to mention every teutonic tank he can get! We'll see what I can come up with

If I only hadn't pretty much destroyed albion maybe Arthur could take care of a soon to be Lucifer for me alot like this

**Fredericus Iulius** · September 10, 2009, 12:33 AM

The soldiers on the two couple of pictures seem quite dark. Is that normal?

**midterm360** · September 10, 2009, 01:09 PM

It has always been normal for me

Expect another update soon, and this gonna be a big one with a whopping 12+ photos

**midterm360** · September 11, 2009, 10:01 PM

Chapter 7: Battle of the River Ved'ma

I am Mikhail Sorvinnus It has been years since I set about stabilizing our mighty empire and my successes are now becoming evident as Germanicae becomes one of the greatest powers in existence! Under the great prowess of Reich Gelder much has come to pass, the pagans have been routed and their cities taken, little remains of those blasphemous fools now. Our armies are the largest in the world and we have become the most advanced civilization. Our long time rival Albion now clings only to the small island of Kydonnia and are no longer of any significance to anyone. He was a great man...unfortunately it seems as though it is my fate to watch great men wither and die, over and over and over.

But now we live in service to the Reich Freawine, and though he is younger and hot blooded. He does not listen to all my counsels. He allows raiders to fill the ranks of our armies still claiming them to be better combatants and greater in number. Fool a thousand times a fool! But perhaps with these men of Magog it is a necessary evil.

Indeed we have sent many, many scouts to tell us of their numbers and the reports we found were disturbing at best. They have well over 2000 men in the area and more could be on the way who can tell for certain. But these armies will have to be crushed in order for us to proceed.

But most disturbing of all was this letter that I have received. It tells of a child of darkness, could this be Lucifer himself. The fallen angel after the war in heaven? If it is his him in the flesh then we are surely doomed to fail. Or is it merely an avatar of his sent to the surface from the fiery depths of hell, who can be certain? But if he is not cast back into shadow and flame. All is lost.

Their armies were massed on our borders, seeing no clear victory west of Arad due to our larger garrisons the enemy had headed west to attack our forces holding the bridge at the river Ved'ma. But they were a long way away, and we had many spies in the area. It was not long before news reached the new Reich Freawine and an army was assembled. The likes of which had not been seen in a long time. Through an impressive show of force our men massed at the river Ved'ma along with 2 other generals, one was his son. But now the feeling of a...presence was there again. I felt it myself and was initially overwhelmed by the power, this horrible will to crush all humanity. I was HOT! I felt as though I was drying up yet I was melting. Suffocating in a black abyss that held no hope and drowning in a sea of madness. This feeling of dread descended on the whole army and it seemed as though a demon child had come was going to kill us! Kill me! I who am immortal, yes the will of this evil seemed as though it could break this affliction of mine and render me dead.

"NO!!!" I thought

Instinctively I grabbed for my cross and watched as my fears fell away. Loudly I began singing church songs and watched in comfort as the madness went away, men regained their senses and joined in with me and soon all stood in rank, arms at the ready. The wave of foul energy had passed.

Soon we joined battle

Reich Freawine took charge of the battle and so now you will hear his account.

I am the new Reich Freawine and last year we heard reports from our scouts that a large army of the nation of Magog had set out and were most likely headed towards our position. I quickly assembled an army at what I deemed to be the likely point of attack. Of all the somewhat useless counsels of Mikhail this one is one I can use. My father believed what he said, and took his word as a divine command, while I will not make a similar mistake I will NOT revoke common sense. Though my dread of coming battle increases as this army draws nearer. But I will be ready.

It was not long till the battle began and our armies were opposite each other on the river. I Drew our main battle line up at the choke point of bridge and drew our archers up at the banks. This would be a a hard fought battle to say the least.

The enemy drew his army up in a great column to march across the bridge all the while I heard chantings some foul demons by the name of Gressil and Carreau. It was...perturbing.

Soon battle was joined and as is their custom the squires yelled at the top of their lungs in defiance of this demonic presence and its army. Peh. Novices. But they would hold the line at the very least. the horde of enemy units was great, and even with our archers dwindling their numbers it would still be a gritty fight. For a while it seemed as thought the enemy was gaining ground and might actually push through our line of men.

But then what I had been waiting for had finally arrived. The enemy host in it's entirety now stood on the bridge. Save the archers that cowered and their side of the river.

Now the real key to this battle lied in my cavalry which I had kept hidden until that point about a league away near the ford of the river Ved'ma. It was a very sizeable force completely separate from my own and my generals' own retinues. It would be their task to flank the enemy at the bridge and trap them allowing us to finish them all off.

It was not long before we had completely out flanked the enemy's forces and sent them to panic and fear. A great rout of our enemies took place. Stepping over the bodies of their fallen comrades and enemies our soldiers surged forth intent on killing as many of the enemy as they could.

None save 1 score of enemy horsemen escaped our men. They will tell the tale of the defeat of their host at Ved'ma and its utter destruction.

In the end however the price for this victory had been great and days were spent counting the bodies of the dead, pufifying the men Magog. So that when they stand before the almighty they may not be cast down from heaven in spite or vengeance.

A scribe tallied the dead from each side of the battle, I was please with the great victory I had won over the enemy.

But now I receive word from the Islamic peoples. Probably another threat of our sovereignty or some insult towards us, those fools are not capable of a proper diplom... What terror has brought them to this statement.

-Freawine, the Reich and Emperor of Germanicae

So the man says in his journals. He may be a bit barbaric but I forgive him that. He is headstrong and hot blooded thus the presence of the Azeal seemed to bear no effect on him. He is also dedicated and steadfast, under proper guidance he will become a great emperor, if we survive this enemy.

**Halie Satanus** · September 12, 2009, 02:49 PM

Nice, it'll be interesting to see how you fair against the Satanae in open battle..I suggest making an alliance with Islam while you have the chance, what your facing now is only the western half of the Satanae Empire. Unless your spies have crossed to Magog itself you have no idea what they've been up to in the east..An alliance with Islam might buy you some time..

Then again it might already be to late!.

**midterm360** · September 12, 2009, 09:13 PM

actually I sent Carolus (he's still kicking around) to keep expanding east as per his instructions and near kotais he met an islam army that almost beat him to the punch, i assume they're doing fine. And yea i've done a hispannia campaign before and islam got roasted, chewed and spat out again

**midterm360** · September 20, 2009, 07:33 AM

Just decided to drop every here in the EOD forum a line. I wanna let you know I havent forgotten about the AAR I just havent had much time lately with everything going on. Expect another update in a few days. I wanna get this AAR finished soon before its the ski season and I wont have time/energy left to do it from skiing all the time

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

next.....
The siege of sarmisegetzua expect proper spelling of the city upon release!

**Fredericus Iulius** · September 20, 2009, 04:44 PM

We are counting on it! Take your time, though.

**Halie Satanus** · September 21, 2009, 07:16 AM

No worries mate. Not sure you can rush the forces of Evil though..

**midterm360** · September 22, 2009, 03:34 PM

ahh shucks you guys

, hmm I think its time the teutonic knights shined and fought for the first time with reckless abandon... heavy losses are to be expected on their part OH WELL. I just gotta get some of them up there. BTW Seeing as how i'm starting to get used to slaying entire stacks of satanae fodder with some elites, i'm ending this at constantinople but its with a twist! so no worries

EDIT

again i havent forgotten, and i have the screenshots ready but lately I just dont have time to write down a chapter, this is why I wanted to finish at least before the school year started. hopefully this weekend i'll get 2-3 free hours to write another installment.

**midterm360** · October 18, 2009, 11:31 AM

Chapter 8: Assault on Kotais

I am Mikail Sorvinnus and in this diary I now record the deeds of Carolous, a once average captain now made a general of great reknown. He has finally met his orders to expand to end of the Baltique sea by taking Kotais and establishing another foothold from which future crusades may take place. This is his account of the battle.

Generak Carolus, day 245 of the march

We have finally come upon the last major settlement in the area, the locals call it by the name of Kotais. Taking this settlement means that my men can finally take rest, that we can finally end the bloodshed in the name of the Reich. There have been many hardships trekking through the endless steppes, through the frigid cold of a northern winter, through the muggy heat that accompanies summer. Putting down civil uprisings and dealing with revolts. Losing men along the way, being forced to recruit from the local population and pull sons away from their parents. I've had my fill of war...

By the time we had reached Kotais our reputation as murderers of the pagan people sent most of their army in flight, it was hardly garrisoned at all. But wanting to spare the lives of my men I dipped into the royal treasury to pay for some mercenaries. Our ranks were now bolstered by the Illuminati men at arms and the frightening Dracule.

They go clad in red. They wield tridents in the manner of the lord of the flies himself. Stained with the blood innocents and evil alike, and they wear a mask that shows now emotion and only gives the feeling of dread. They are the Dracule, and tomorrow's battle field may find them our enemies again, but for now I am only happy that they are on our side. They are the anti-thesis of the noble teutonic knights in principle, but their brothers in terms of combat.

Anyways I'm certain the esteemed Mikhail knows the basic drill for assaulting the walls of a city so I will spare him the details. But we met with early disaster as the enemy managed to set our ram on fire! 4 men died in the catastrophe and we were forced to assault the walls.

However in every curse there is always a blessing, for upon scaling the walls on their ladders and in their siege towers the men discovered the walls to be completely empty. Being the Devoid of defenders the men wasted no time in swarming them and establishing a foothold in the city such that could be easily defended and keep the enemy from approaching.

Upon taking the walls from ghosts it may as well have been. Our scouts learned something of the defenders, they were poorly equipped in comparison to other pagans. They lacked helmets, armor even the iconic mask of the pagans was missing.

Upon seeing that another thing was noticed, all that they defended were a cluster of thatched huts and barns. In my opinion, at least. It was a band of second rate pagans defending a second rate city. Which amused me for the fact that it added to the humiliation of the Dracule later in the battle.

After receiving the order to attack the Illuminati, backed by the Dracule followed closely by myself and my retinue, all advanced to the city square. However the Dracule were anxious, and in their bloodlust actually ran straight through the ranks of the Illumanati. This sent men sprawling to the ground, and fortunately no one was killed, but it left a sour taste on the tongues of the men at arms.

The Dracule made some initial headway against the enemies retinue, but upon meeting their peasant spearmen met stiff resistance and couldn't break the line. They fought long, but against the spears had little effect. As their casualties mounted the Illumanati were content to stand and watch in a grim amusement. I saw their deaths as a service to the good society so I let the Illumanati do as they would.

However when the Dracule broke ranks and fled I knew it would send my war weary troops in flight, giving a great call, I ordered them back into ranks brandishing my sword upon a proud rearing stallion they could not ignore my call.

My men came from the christian powers, the men at arms were the of the Illuminati, and the Dracule were of a devil worshipping cult. But in that moment we were a band of brothers and charged the enemy position united, and before our wrath all fell to our blades.

Upon the capturing Kotais I ordered the remaining men a grim task, to prevent a future uprising and further death of the reichs men it had to be done...

-General Carolus

He may be slightly insolent and to go as far as calling devil worshippers brothers is nigh on blasphemy. But he is effecient, and I foresee him having a great future whether he wants it or not.